The 67-year-old, who made his fortune after founding anti-virus company McAfee Associates in 1987, gave an interview to technology magazine Wired while supposedly in hiding in the Central American country.

He revealed that before the Belizean police came to his property on the island of Ambergris Caye on Sunday to question him about the murder of Gregory Faull, he had buried himself into the sand with a cardboard box over his head so that he could breath.

"It was extraordinarily uncomfortable," he told the magazine. "But they will kill me if they find me."

Marco Vidal, the head of the country's anti-organised crime brigade, has said that McAfee was wanted for homicide over the fatal shooting of fellow American expatriate Faull at the weekend.

But speaking to Wired, McAfee denied killing his neighbour and claimed that the Belize government was out to get him

He said that he has gone on the run as he feared Faull had been killed by mistake when he was actually the real target.

In the telephone interview, McAfee said: "I thought maybe they were coming for me. They mistook him for me. They got the wrong house. They killed him. It spooked me out."

However, other reports have indicated that McAfee and Faull were engaged in a long-running dispute, including the latter man recently complaining about McAfee shooting guns and keeping a pack of unruly dogs at his beachside property.

The Belizean authorities have also previously accused McAfee of manufacturing methamphetamine and possessing unlicensed weapons, although both of the charges have since been dropped.

McAfee says that the government has a vendetta against him, and even accuses the coast guard of having poisoned his dogs.

However, Vidal is sure that the software entrepreneur is the "prime suspect" in Faull's death, and dismisses McAfee's accusations that he is being framed.

"This guy amazes me every day," he said. "We don't have anything personal against Mr McAfee. There is no need for us to poison dogs."

Faull, 52, was found dead inside his home north of San Pedro, on Ambergris Caye, on early Sunday morning.

He had a gunshot wound to the head and a single 9mm Luger casing was found at the scene.

Police spent several hours on Sunday searching McAfee's property for evidence, and confiscated a number of weapons.

McAfee, whose once $100m (£63m) fortune is said to have dwindled to just $4m in the financial crisis, is now on the run from the police and has no intention of handing himself in for questioning.

"Under no circumstances am I going to willingly talk to the police in this country," he said.

"You can say I'm paranoid about it but they will kill me, there is no question. They've been trying to get me for months. They want to silence me. I am not well liked by the prime minister. I am just a thorn in everybody's side."